Washing machine



Fella. 22', 1944. y STRAUSS ETAL 2,342,435

WASHING MACHINE Original Filed Jan. 10, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet l Feb. 22,1944.. J STRAUSS ET AL I 2,342,435-

WASHING MACHINE Original Filed Jan 10, 1939 Z-Sheets-Sheetfi ,0 FSQS.

' |-v NTORS Patented Feb. 22, 1944 2.342.435 WASHING MACHINE Luke J.Strauss, Snyder, and Raymon E. Rousscan, Orchard Park Township, ErieCounty,

Original application January 10, 1939, Serial No.

250,200. Divided and this application December 30, 1941, Serial No.424,908

'5 Claims.

This .invcntion relates to improvements in washing machines or the like,and is a division of gur Patent No. 2,275,698, granted March 10, 194

The present invention contemplates a washing mac lune wherein a sourceof power is coupled to an agitating element in such a manner that thelatter responds with a predetermined oscillative agitating stroke whichis automatically shortened in accordance with resistances in excess of apredetermined load resistance im posed upon the agitator by and duringmovement of the materials being washed. The invention furthercontemplates means for conditioning the coupling between the source ofpower and the agitator so that the load-responsive agitating action mayalso be selectively varied in accordance with the character and load ofmaterials to be washed.

In washing machines simplicity oi manufacture, long life, and quiet,safe and easy operation are important considerations. The desirabilityof selectively varying the agitating action of a washing machine inaccordance with the texture and load of materials being washed thereinis well recognized.

Among the important objects of the present invention is the provision ofa washingmachine wherein the agitating action may be automaticallyvaried by and in accordance with varying load resistances imposedthereupon when such load resistances exceed a predetermined value.

Another important object is the provision of a simple and eiiectiveselective control for starting, stopping and varying the agitatingaction to suit the load and texture of the material being Washed.

These and various other objects, advantages and novel features of theinvention will become apparent from the described and illustrated formsof the invention. It should be understood however that these embodimentsof the invention are merely illustrative of the inventive principlesinvolved and that the scope of the invention is not to be restrictedthereby.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an inverted plan view of a washing machine with the covermember removed to show the washing mechanism and associated parts;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view takensubstantially on line II-II of Fig. 1; a

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view of the controlmechanism shown in v Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the variable stroke mechanismshown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the drive mechanism shown inFig. 2. certain parts being shown in section;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to that shown in Fig. 5 of an alternate form;

Fig. 7 is a group perspective view of the means for opposing rotation ofthe crank end of the pitman; and,

Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional plan view of an alternateform of drive member.

Referring now to the drawings, we have depicted a Washin machine inwhich the load responsive variable agitating stroke mechanism isillustrated as being wholly mechanical. In the preferred embodiment ofour washing machine we provide means whereby the oscillating stroke ofthe agitator i selectively variable to wash difierent types of washablematerials and is also responsive to the load resistance upon theagitator for varying the selected degree of oscillation of the latter.As illustrated, this means includes an agitator connected to a drivenmem ber oscillatable by the back and forth movement of a drive memberwhen frictional interengagement therebetween is maintained under one ofseveral predetermined loads selectable by'the operation and positioningof a control mechanism By reason of a resilient member in the controlmechanism the selected predetermined load upon the interengaging membersis resiliently main opening in its bottom wall through which a tubuu larpost 3 is projected. The post is provided with a flange 4 and a nut 5betweenwhich the tube is supported. Suitable gaskets 6 arearrangecfbetween the tub and the flange 4 and the nut 5 to preventleakage. The lower end of the post 3 is secured to a transmission caseor housing 1 and is supported thereby. The transmission case is securedin the base I by suitable fastening devices passed through a brace 8 atits inner end and lugs 9 adjacent its outer end.

A vertical shaft l0. extends upwardly through the post 3 and downwardlyinto the transmission case, being joumaled for rotative or oscillativemovement in a suitable bearing in the post (not shown) and in a bearingin the case. The upper end of the shaft is provided with a drive blockor member ll upon which an agitator i2 is detachably secured. Theagitator has 9. depending tubular portion spaced from and extendingdownwardly around the post and is provided with a plurality of radiallydisposed fins or blades l3.

As shown in Fig. 5, the lower end portion of shaft is provided with adisc or wheel secured thereto as by a key 2|. The upper and lower faces22,and 23 of wheel 20 converge outwardly and are arranged for ashort-line engagement with the complementary outwardly diverging upperand lower faces 24 and 25 of the opposed gripping jaws provided by agroove 26 formed in the reciprocable driving member or pitman 30. Thereciprocating stroke of the driving member and the diameter of the wheelEll are preferably so proportioned that wheel Z il, shaft l0 andagitator 12 may be oscillated by the driving member throughapproximately 180";

While we have found that an included angle of approximately 7 betweenthe respective friction faces of a single steel wheel and the grippingjaws of a single groove in a steel pitman, and an interengagementtherebetween of approximately five thirty-seconds of an inch measuredradially of the wheel 20 provdes a satisfactory load responsiveoscillation of the drive-n shaft, it should be understood that variousother materials, any number of angularly disposed or curved engagingfaces, and various included angles and depths of interengageme'ntbetween the driving and driven members may be provided for the purposesset forth.

By making the included angle between the respective friction facescomparatively small, the pressure of the drive surface upon the drivensurface is much greater than the force imposed through roller M whichmaintains the frictional drive relation. In this way the pressurenecessary to an effective friction drive may be maintained withoutcausing appreciable losses of power due to excessive friction betweenthe drive member and the means for maintaining it in drive relation withthe driven member. In practice it has been determined that with thearrangement shown there is little power loss even though the part doesnot rotate.

Fig. 6 shows an alternate form of the variable oscillating stroke loadresponsive means in which the lower end of a driven shaft H! has keyedthereon a wheel 20' grooved to provide jaws having outwardly divergingfaces 22' and 23 a1" ranged for short-line marginal engagement with thecomplementary converging faces 24', 251', formed on the driving memberor pitman 38'.

It will be observed in the drawings that the depth of interengagementbetween the driving and driven members is relatively small as comparedto the depth of the groove, whereby considerable wear may occur betweenthe driving and driven members with the result that merely the degree ofoscillation of the driven member and its variability is changed withoutappreciably affecting the quietness of operation or the load responsiveaction between the driving and driven parts.

The outer end of the pitman 30 is provided with means 50 for-opposingrelative motion of the pitman and worm wheel 40, and incldues a crankpin 5| which is rotatable in a bearing eccentrically located in a wormwheel 60 keyed to the lower end of a vertical shaft 6|. Shaft BI isjournaled for rotation in the outer end portion of the transmission casein any suitable manner. As viewed in Fig. '1 the worm wheel is rotatedin a clockwise direction by a worm 62 flexibly coupled to and driven byan electric motor 63 resiliently mounted in a bracket 64 secured to thecase I by fastening devices 65, 66.

Rotation of pin 5| in its bearing in the worm Wheel is resisted byfriction washers 52 and 53 which bear upon opposite sides of the gearunder-the urge of spring washer 54 backed up and retained by the washer55, lock Washer 56 and a screw 51. The friction between the washers andthe gear opposes the reciprocating movement of the pitman and therebytends to prevent overtravel of the reciprocating pitman and reduces thebacklash between the worm and the worm straining force back of thepitman.

Various means may be employed to bring about engagement anddisengagement of the driving anddriven members but such means willpreferably include some form of yielding means.

In the embodiments shown in Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings the rollers3!, 3i are arranged to bear against the back of the pitmans 30, 30,

respectively. In each instance the roller is rotatively'mounted in thebifurcated end of a lever 32 fixed to the inner end of a vertical stubsliaft 33 rotatively mounted in and extended beyond a bearing in theupper wall of the transmission case. Oscillatory movement of shaft 33about its axis effects engagement and disengagement of the pitman andthe wheel in a manner to be hereinafter described. A lever 34 is fixedto the outer end of shaft 33 to oscillate the latter and has its outerend provided with an opening to loosely receive therethrough the freeend of a bent link or'rod 35, formed wth an abutment 35'. The oppositeend of the rod is pivotally connected to a lever or crank arm 35 securedto a control rod 37 journaled in spaced bearings 38 formed on the case.The non-pivoted or free end of the rod 35 is preferably threaded toreceive one or more adjusting devices 39. A compression spring 40mounted on the rod 35 is disposed between the lever 3 and one of thedevices 39, so that the compression of the spring may be properlyadjusted.

The control rod ill extends through a bearing 6! fixed in the wall ofthe support 2 and is provided with an upwardly extending lever or handle42 for manual operation.

Assuming that the motor is running and the.

pitman oscillating in its disengaged position, the control parts will bein their fully disengaged positions partially indicated in broken linesin Fig. 3. In this position the abutment 35 abuts the lever 35 therebymaintaining the latter, the shaft 33, the lever 32 and the roller 3! intheir disengaged positions.

With the control parts in their fully di,sen gaged positions thefriction faces 24, 25 of the pitman jaws are slightly spaced from thefriction faces 22, 23 of the wheel 20 so that the pitman .nerelyidlesagainst the roller 3|. The slight spacing between the faces of thepitman and wheel when disengaged obviates the necessity for any separateguide for the pitman during its free reciprocating movements, the pitmanand wheel being submerged in a lubricant, so that a film of thelubricant therebetween supports the former upon the latter, there beingsufficient friction in the wheel shaft bearings to prevent anyoscillation of the wheel by the pitman. The lubricant such as oil orgrease is retained in the case I by a cover member l4, a sealing gasketl interposed therebetween and suitable oil or grease seals forthe shaftsll, 33 and worm 62. The cover is secured to the case I by suitablefastening devices II.

The direction of rotation of the worm wheel and the frictional action ofthe means '50 at the ment the rod 35 is drawn through the opening inlever 34 and the spring 40 is gradually compressed or loaded so that itexerts an increasing resilient force against lever 34, thereby causingcounterclockwise movement of the shaft 33, the lever 32 and the roller Has viewed in Fig. l,

that more or less slippage may occur at the ends of its stroke.

When the pitman 30 is at either end of its stroke and engaged with thewheel, it lies in a plane substantially normal to a line drawn betweenthe axes of the wheel 20 and the roller 3|. By reason of the rotation ofthe outer end of the pitman by the worm wheel 60 its anguwhich eflectsengagement of the pitman with V the wheel. Only a small proportion ofthe movement of the rod 35 is needed to silently engage the pitman withthe wheel since their spacing is slight. The remaining movement of therod is util zed to load the spring whereby the engaging frictional facesof the pitman and wheel are wedged together to provide a predeterminedload responsive driving force therebetween. This force is less than theforce required to stall the motor so that slippage between the drivingand driven members occurs when the normal osciilatiing movement of thelatter is impeded by any of the causes above described, e. g., over--loading, etc.

Due to the fact that a load of clothes to be washed is seldom weighed,overloading may occur. However, with our improved washing machine anoverload condition results in reduced strokes of the agitator whichapprise an alert operator of this condition so that it may be correctedas by removing part of the clothes load for a more efllcient washingoperation.

'Prom the foregoing it will be observed that the transmission whichconnects the motor or source of power to the agitator embodies a loadresponsive means for functioning as a safety device in that it avoidsinjury to the mechanism as well as to the load or wash. It will also benoted that this safety device is located immediately next to theagitator so as to be responsive directly and solely to the resistanceafforded the agitator without other intermedia y mechanism incidental toa remote disposition thereby and which might detract from thesensitiveness of the device.

Believing that a washing machine should be able to successfully wash alltypes of fabrics we have provided means to selectively vary the washingaction of the agitator in accordance with the type of material to bewashed. In other words, in addition to the usual approximately 180oscillating stroke of the agitator for a full load of heavy fabrics,such as sheets. we provide shorter oscillating strokes of the agitatorfor lighter. fabrics such as cotton wearing apparel, and we furtherprovide very short oscillating strokes of the agitator for fine sheerfabrics such as hosiery and silk undergarments.

In the specific embodiment shown in the drawings we accomplish our loadresponsive and alsgour selectively variable washing action by varyingthe pressure on the driving member, so

larity is constantly changing from zero angularity (with respect to saidnormal plane) at the ends of its stroke to a maximum angularityintermediate the ends of its stroke. This change in the angularity ofthe pitman causes the roller 3| to gradually move outwardly as thepitman approaches its maximum angular positions and the roller togradually move inwardly as the pitman approaches its zero angular or endpositlons, whereby the resilient force of the spring 40 is graduallyincreased as the pitman ap-,,

proaches its maximum angular position wherein the resilient force isgreatest, and gradually decreases as the pitman approaches its zeroangular position wherein the resilient force is less.

Therefore, the frictional driving force between the wheel and the pitmanis less at the ends of a stroke due to the reduced resilient force asabove referred to and slippage may occur at the ends of a stroke shouldthe oscillation of the wheel or agitator be resisted. By simply varyingthe resilient force of the spring the slippage at the ends of the pitmanstroke may be increased or decreased so that oscillation of the wheeland the agitator driven thereby may be increased or decreased to suitthe type of fabric, or material to be or being washed.

Should it be desired, greater slippage and greater variation of theoscillating stroke of the driven member and the agitator may be obtainedby a greater pressure variation in the resilient force. This may beaccomplished by outwardly curving or arching the back of the drivingmemher (the surface engaging roller 3|) intermediate the end positionsof its engagement with the driven member.

We further contemplate a driving member or pitman formed so thatslippage may occur'during any part of its stroke should the loadresistance on the part it is driving be exceeded. In other words, we mayprovide load responsive action of the driven member and the agitatorwithout our variable oscillating stroke feature.

This action may be accomplished as by simply arching or curving the backof the pitman inwardly toward the groove 26 as indicated at 29 in Fig.8. Obviously this same result may be accomplished by having the faces24, 25 of groove 26 formed with a slight curve or bowed away from eachother so that the resilient pressure of the spring is constantthroughout the stroke of the driving member.

In the present application of our principles for varying the oscillatoryload responsive stroke of the agitator we provide the handle 42 formanual operation by an operator. The inner face of the bearing 4| isknurled or serrated-as at 43 and is engaged by a similarly knurled orserrated member 44 slidably secured on the rod '31 as by the pin andslot connection indicated. A compression spring 48 anchored to rod 31 asat 49 and resiliently bearing against the member 44 urges the lattertoward the face 43 of the bearing 41 for a clutching action betweenmembers 4| and 44.

the disengaged position, shown in broken lines in Fig. 3, acounterclockwise movement of the handle to the full line position inFig. 3 results in full engagement of the load responsive drive and'thefull oscillating stroke of the agitator of approximately 180. mediatethe illustrated positions varies the resilient force of spring 40 sothat different oscillating strokes of the agitator are obtained. Thehandle 42 is resiliently maintained in any of its selected positions bythe clutching-action of the serrated faces of members 4! and 4d and maybe readily moved by the operator in selecting the desired stroke orhandle position.

Obviously, the handle 42 may be moved over a dial or graduationssuitably marked or designated to indicate the main positions ofadjustment, and for convenience to the operator these main positions maybe appropriately denoted, as for example, cotton, wool, silk and off.These positions are graphically illustrated in Fig. 3 by the brokenlines C, W, S and'O radiating from the center of shaft 37.

With the present invention the agitator may make several completerotations for each stroke, dragging the wash load along with it andshould the load twist and wind about the agitator so as to cause thefabric articles comprising the load to strain toward the tearing pointthe stroke will automatically shorten in accordance with the presettingof the load responsive transmission. This presetting is determined bythe operator at the time of placing the clothing and other articles inthe washer and will be made to function in approximate accordance withthe tensile strength of the fabric in general. wash load may be all ofone character, but if the wash comprises articles of different tensilestrengths thenthe presetting should be made to function for the moredelicate articles.

While we have shown'and described in great detail the present preferredforms of our invention, it should be understood that they are merelyillustrative of the principles of our invention and that various changesand modifications may be made therein without departing from the spiritor scope of the appended claims. All changes or variations which comewithin the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are intendedto be embraced therein.

We claim:

1. In a machine for washing aselected type and quantity of washablefabrics, the combination of an agitator, a rotary drive therefor, andstroke producing means interposed between and operatively connecting thedrive to the agitator for imparting an oscillatory stroke to the latter,said oscillatory stroke producing means comprising a friction unithaving a driving part movable back and forth and a cooperating drivenpart having frictional driving contact therewith, and pressure meansacting gradually to increase and thengradually decrease the pressure inthe frictional contact between said parts toward and from a highpressure point intermediate the ends of the stroke whereby the strokeonce begun will continue with a gradually increasing then a. graduallydecreasing frictional driving efiect first 'toward then from said highpressure point.

2. In a machine for washing a selected typg and .quantityof washablefabrics, the combination of an agitator, a rotary drive therefor, and astroke Positioning of the handle 42 inter- The articles of any effect ashortening or lengthening of the agitator stroke on opposite sides ofthe high pressure point, whereby a continuous oscillatory stroke of theagitator of an angular extent suitable to the selected type and quantityof fabric to be washed is obtained.

3. A Washing machine comprising an-agitator,

, a rotary drive therefor, and means between the agitator and the rotarydrive for converting the rotary motion of the drive into oscillatorymotion of the agitator, said motion converting means including pressuremeans variable by and during said motion conversion and having the leastpressure at the ends of a stroke, whereby the agitator isresponsive towashing loads tending to resist its movement and is more responsive tosaid washing load and less responsive to the drive at the ends of astroke and less responsive to said load and more responsive to saiddrive between the ends of a stroke, whereby a washload responsive strokeonce begun is completed.

4. A washing machine comprising an'agitator, a rotary drive therefor,and means between the agitator and the rotary drive for convertin therotary motion of the drive into oscillatory motion of the agitator, saidmotion converting means including pressure means variable by and duringsaid motion conversion and having the least pressure at the ends of astroke, whereby the agitator is responsive to washing loads tending toresist its movement and is more responsive to said washing load and lessresponsive to the drive at the ends of a stroke and less responsive tosz'iid load and more responsive to said drive between the ends of astroke, and means for selectivity varying the pressure of the pressure.means whereby the responsiveness of th motion converting means to thedrive is varied at the ends of a stroke and an uninterrupted oscillatorystroke of the agitator is obtained.

5. A washing machine comprising an agitator, a drive therefor,transmission means connecting the two for imparting oscillatory strokesto the agitator, said transmission means including a friction devicehaving a relatively greater frictional component during the centralportion of each agitator stroke with a tapering off toward the endsthereof whereby after the start of the agitator on a stroke saidagitator will continue

